Q&A: Matt Damon, Casey Affleck, Hong Chau discuss their Boston heist comedy ‘The Instigators’

Matt Damon and Casey Affleck star as strangers caught up in a robbery for the first time in the new action comedy “The Instigators.” A robbery of a corrupt politician goes terribly wrong, and their characters are left on the run in Boston.

The film, written by Affleck and Chuck MacLean and directed by Doug Liman, is reminiscent of those movies people say aren’t made anymore, like “Midnight Run,” which features a cast of great character actors. And it’s also thoroughly modern: It’s produced by the streaming company AppleTV in association with Damon and Ben Affleck’s artist-led production company Artists Equity.

Damon, Affleck and Chow spoke with The Associated Press about the film, sharing history and old jokes. There was a lot of “light banter,” in Chow’s words.

Comments have been edited for clarity and brevity. : Doug Liman said that moving to Boston and filming with Damon and the Affleck brothers was like joining someone else’s family. Hong, did that ring true for you?

CHOW: It felt like a very family barbecue, and I was just hoping I could bring a tasty dish. I love watching the back and forth conversation between these two and the light banter that they have. Casey, what was the inspiration for writing comedy?

Affleck: I didn’t expect someone to send me their great comedy and ask me to do it. So I thought I’d make a comedy myself. I had a really great idea and it had some great characters. He didn’t want to work on it anymore, so he said, why don’t you take it and see what you can do. I did, but that was just the beginning of it. Recently several of my friends told me they were rewatching “Manchester by the Sea” because “it’s a lot more fun than you remember.”

Damon: Maybe not so much in that movie.

Affleck: I thought I could do some comedy before. But everybody said, “Wow, it’s really nice to see you do comedy this time.” I guess it’s never been that funny before. And Matt, you threw in Lyman’s name. Why did you remember his name?

Damon: I love all of Doug’s movies and I love working with him. He has a way of taking something that might be in the middle and just bending it a little bit in a fun way : You had your big, shared moment with “The Bourne Identity,” but around that time, there were also some articles about their process and “Limania.” I wonder how that fits in with the Artists Equity model? Does it feel like a gamble?

DAMON: No. And one of the things I wanted to do with this movie, and what we did, was have Artists Equity and Doug and I put up our own money for the overages. So, if there were overages, the burden would fall on us. I was really happy to do that because I think for 20 years he’s been misrepresented in that way. I don’t think there’s a better way to validate your feelings about someone than to give them your salary and say, “Look I trust him so much that if we go over budget, I’ll pay him.” That process is messy creatively, but it’s a very different thing from being careless or irresponsible.

Affleck: I was willing to raise my salary, but it was so insignificant to the budget that it didn’t make much of a difference. You two have worked together in several films, and there are many in which you haven’t actually shared any scenes.

Damon: That’s Chris Nolan. I think he likes both of us, but he doesn’t trust either of us. In “Interstellar” he put us on completely different planets. But in “Oppenheimer” we’re on the same planet, and my character actually references that. I think we’re slowly getting closer, and I hope eventually there’s a movie of Chris’ where we’ll be on screen together.

Affleck: I’ve heard the prequel to “Oppenheimer.”

Damon: “Grooves and loops.” : Hong, you went to college in Boston after “Good Will Hunting” was released. Did that movie stay in your mind?

CHOW: Yeah, that was the only reason I decided to go to college. But I mean, who hasn’t heard “How Do You Like Them Apples” a billion times in their life. It’s a movie that’s so iconic and memorable.

Damon: By the way, there’s this one line that my dad, when he read the script, said “Matthew, this isn’t going to work.” And then after that he said he’d never give me a note again. Do you remember your days shooting this movie in Boston?

Damon: I feel that way sometimes when I’m walking around town. But when you’re shooting, you’re very conscious during production that you’re basically burning money. So all your energy goes into making the day. There’s not a lot of time for nostalgia. : And Ben was involved as a producer but there was no role for him here?

Damon: He was running the company. Someone needed to be in the office. But he was really active in the pre-production phase, reading everything and giving notes and then posting. We’re finding as many ways as possible to work together. Casey writes and produces, directs and acts, and Ben is the same, and I’m the same. We try to partner up in any way we can. It’s fun to play different roles in different ways. I’m looking at the third part of life or the second part or whatever you want to call it, and it’s like, I love my job and the only thing better than doing it is doing it with people I care about and love and respect and admire. There were a lot of jokes about Matt’s age. Were these all Casey Affleck’s original ideas?

DAMON: It was all improvised that day.

Affleck: These are things I had heard other people say about Matt and I thought were funny, and I wanted to put them in a movie.

DAMON: It’s funny because in “Ocean’s 12,” George was in his 40s and Casey made fun of him being 50. And we were talking about it on set, and I think it was the same day that Casey made fun of me being 60. So, he’s just repeating the same old stuff.

Affleck: He was about 48?

Damon: I think he was 45. And you ask how old are you, 48? And he’s 48? And you say 52.

Affleck: Actually, it was 56 years. A long time ago. And now he’s running for president.

Damon: Oh yeah, let’s get right into it. This is a scoop.

Affleck: George said yes! He’s going to do it.

DAMON: You heard that from Casey Affleck.

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